BOULDER, Colo. — A bear was put down and another was relocated in separate instances in Boulder this week.
On Tuesday, an adult black bear was found on the campus of the University of Colorado, Colorado Parks & Wildlife (CPW) said. The bear had not shown any aggressive behaviors and had not previously been moved by wildlife officers, so CPW said officers decided to relocate the bear.
“In this instance we just had a bear that found itself in a busy part of town on a college campus," said Tyler Asnicar, a wildlife officer with CPW. "We moved it to try to reduce the chance it would have a negative encounter with people and to give it the opportunity to find a better, more natural habitat."
Then on Wednesday morning, another bear was euthanized after it showed aggressive behavior toward people, CPW said. The bear had had other interactions with people and had been previously relocated, CPW said.
The bear had been reported in early June for getting into peoples' trash and other nuisance issues in south Boulder, CPW said. The bear -- a sub-adult female estimated to be about 18 months old -- was tagged and relocated to a remote habitat, according to CPW.
A few weeks later, the ear-tagged bear had returned and was found digging through trash on 16th Street in Boulder, CPW said. Boulder Animal Protection officers hazed the bear with pepper spray multiple times, CPW said. In a different encounter with the bear, wildlife officers tried to haze the bear using a Taser. The bear was unfazed by two Taser deployments and then charged at officers, CPW said.
The bear scampered from the area after a wildlife officer shot it with a rubber bullet, CPW said.
Then, on Wednesday morning, the bear was spotted up a tree near 16th Street and Baseline Road. CPW said their officers made the decision to euthanize the bear due to its escalation in aggressive behavior and habitual trash issues.
“Working with the city of Boulder, we did absolutely everything we could think of to avoid this outcome,” said Asnicar. “At the end of the day, human safety is our priority so we felt we had to remove the bear.”
CPW said it has been proactive in trying to lessen human and bear conflicts by conducting several night patrols in an attempt to haze bears away from the city.
An estimated 17,000 to 20,000 black bears live in Colorado, CPW said. Trash is the largest source of conflict with bears, according to CPW. People are encouraged to secure their trash using bear-proof trash cans or by keeping their cans inside until the morning of trash pick-up, CPW said.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Colorado Outdoors
